Blog Note: For my East Coast monitoring friends, heads up. The Big Stick and CVW-8 are on the way. Radios will be hot shortly.
USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Theodore Roosevelt (TR) (CVN 71) got underway March 17, in preparation for upcoming carrier qualifications and strike group drills. The underway schedule is filled with scenarios the ship needs to complete before being certified for the next deployment.
TR Sailors will be conducting general quarters and man overboard procedures along with daily flight operations. This underway will mark the first time since TR left Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) that cyclic air operations will be performed on the flight deck. The flight schedule will resemble those on deployment.
Pilots who have been completing their needed qualifications will now use a full flight schedule for the squadrons. This will benefit both squadron personnel and flight deck crew on what areas need to be improved upon in the future.
Seven squadrons that make up Carrier Air Wing 8 will also be completing the necessary qualifications needed by pilots in addition to the cyclic operations. These landings will help familiarize pilots with the proper carrier launch and recovery procedures.
"It is important that everyone is on the same page and that individuals get accustomed to working together," said Lt. Todd Anderson, Assistant Strike Operations officer.
Many Sailors on board were not on the last deployment, so this underway will help both airwing and ship's company get acquainted with the tasks that must be accomplished during deployment.
Also, for the first time since leaving NNSY, TR will be performing drills with the entire strike group. These drills consist of communication and ship movement techniques that will be evaluated.
"Improving communication within the strike group along with coordinating ship movement is a vital part of the at sea period," said Cmdr. Karl Hines, strike operations officer.
These scenarios are a major part of the certification process of the strike group. Throughout the underway period, a naval afloat training group (ATG) will be observing these drills, making sure they are properly completed.
"ATG will not only be making sure TR completes these tasks, but that they are done properly and in a safe manner," said Anderson.
The strike group exercises will involve air, sub and surface exercises. Many of these exercises will involve pilots firing at targets, the various ship weapons systems, along with .50-calibre shoots by Sailors.
"This underway is the first step for the TR strike group to be prepared for deployment," said Hines. "What we accomplish over the next few weeks will go a long way towards us completing our mission in the future."
Commanded by Capt. Ladd Wheeler, USS Theodore Roosevelt is the centerpiece of the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (TRSCG). The TRSCG is preparing for a scheduled deployment later this year.